Tide Turns Against Prison Privatization by North Carolina, Georgia, Utah and Louisiana are among states that experimented with private prisons and because of problems encountered have eliminated them altogether or scaled back plans for future privatization. North Carolina officials converted both of the state's private prisons to public operation, and …
The Restraint Chair: Safe and Humane? by Anne-Marie Cusac Jail and prison employees call it the "strap-o-lounger," the "barcalounger," the "we care chair," and the "be sweet chair." Prisoners and their lawyers have other names for the device: "torture chair," "slave chair," and "devil's chair." They are not referring to …
PLN in Court by Paul Wright Since PLN started in 1990 we have been censored in prisons and jails around the country. We have always attempted to resolve censorship issues administratively, but in cases where the goal was to keep PLN out of prison at any cost, that obviously wasn't …
$90,000 Settlement in Utah Jail Suicide by On May 28, 1999, Salt Lake county, Utah, paid $90,000 to the family of a detainee who committed suicide in the county jail. Henry Delgado was arrested on Jul 16, 1997, on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and carrying a …
Utah Jail Settles ADA Suit by On May 6, 1999, Salt Lake County, Utah, settled a lawsuit by paying $2,000 in damages, $4,000 in attorney fees and agreeing to modify its jail for the handicapped. Robert Earls, a former jail detainee, is missing a leg and must use a prosthesis. …
PLN Sues Utah Jail over "Bulk Mail" Ban by PLN Sues Utah Jail over "Bulk Mail" Ban 0n March 30, 1999, PLN sued the San Juan county jail in Utah over its ban on third class mail (AKA "bulk mail"). The jail has a policy under which it refuses to …
Utah Jail Censorship Suit Settled for $68,682 by On October 28, 1998, a class action suit challenging various censorship rules at the Davis County Jail in Utah was settled for $11,682 in damages and $57,000 In attorney's fees. In 1995 the Davis County Jail enacted policies banning books, newspaper clippings …
PLN Sues Utah Jail Over Publication Ban; Suit Settled by The Box Elder county jail in Brigham City, Utah, had a policy prohibiting its prisoners from receiving books and magazines from any sources outside the jail. Eric Piper, a Utah state prisoner and PLN subscriber, was transferred to the Jail …
Utah Strip Search Suit Settled by On January 21, 1998, the Utah Department of Corrections settled a strip search lawsuit with prisoner David Hansen. Hansen had filed suit claiming his Fourth amendment rights were violated when he was handcuffed and subjected to a strip search where prison guards manipulated his …
Blanket Jail Strip Search Policy Unconstitutional by Afederal court in Utah has held that a blanket strip search policy by a jail may be unconstitutional. Kristin Foote, a motorist, was stopped, arrested, and taken to a county jail by two Utah Highway Patrol officers, one of whom was a drug …
Utah Prison Guard Faces Sodomy Charges by In a bizarre case involving the use of DNA fingerprinting, a 34-year-old Utah prison guard was charged with sexually assaulting two prisoners at the Utah State Prison in Draper. After months of allegedly being forced to perform oral sex on the guard, a …
Utah Porn Ban Rescinded; Suit Settled by In 1997 Utah prison officials wrote a policy which prohibited prisoners in that state from ordering, receiving or possessing any written or printed materials that contained "sexually explicit materials." The policy also prohibited prisoners from receiving or possessing any written or printed materials …
Probable Cause Required for Visitor Body Cavity Search by A federal district court in Utah held that prison officials must have probable cause and a valid search warrant before subjecting a prison visitor to a body cavity search. Stana Laughter is married to a Utah state prisoner. Laughter visited her …
PLN Sues Utah Department of Corrections Over Bulk Mail Ban by On April 23, 1998, PLN and PLN subscriber Walter Thomas filed suit against the Utah DOC in U.S. district court in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah DOC has a policy which prohibits prisoners from receiving materials sent via …
Presence of Prison Rape in Utah Denied by Julia Lutsky Early in 1996 Utah's Legislature mandated that state prison hospitals achieve national accreditation. Consequently, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) was given a three-day review of Utah prison medical records and a tour of Utah prisons, including interviews …
Deliberate Indifference Applies to Detainees by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that county jail officials have a constitutional duty to protect the health and wellbeing of prisoners in their custody. The appropriate standard of liability under these circumstances is deliberate indifference, not objective reasonableness. Under the …
